BCCI not to release any player to Abu Dhabi

Thiruvananthapuram:The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) expressed surprise at media reports that an exhibition match would be played between India and Pakistan at Abu Dhabi in May and said it would not be releasing any player for the event.

"The BCCI has neither accorded its approval for any such match nor would release any of its current cricketers for the proposed match," BCCI secretary S K Nair said in a press release in Thiruvananthapuram.

Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Control Board Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan had told reporters in Dubai on Saturday that an Indian eleven, led by Sourav Ganguly, will take on a Pakistani side in the USD 100,000 Sheikh Zayed Cricket Cup day-night festival encounter at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on May 14.

"Thanks to the Indian and Pakistan Cricket Boards and the players who have all agreed to support cricket in the capital," Sheikh Nahyan had said.